[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 15-162017/08/16,
There are oodles of justice and great conflict delivered in episodes fifteen and sixteen of "Falsify", as Seok-min and Moo-yeong's master plan falls into place for a killer showdown. Seong-sik makes his decision, Daehan takes its first major hit and So-ra finally gains Moo-yeong's trust as a fellow warrior in this battle, along with another chance to clear a young man's name,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 13-142017/08/15,
Our hero never learns and his latest drastic measures are met with a swift and ruthless response from our villains. The series reveals a new side of Tae-won, the villain we know best, but I am worried about what this revelation entails. Seok-min and So-ra have a lot of work ahead, but someone's long awaited return may help,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 11-122017/08/08,
Team Good is finally on the same page and although they do not have group meetings yet, their joint investigation leads them back to familiar faces, some of which are too close for comfort. Seok-min continues his backstabbing tango with Tae-won and the latter is busy trying to turn the narrative against Aeguk with the help of his Noah lawyer accomplice,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 9-102017/08/07,
For all their sense of righteousness our three heroes spent a long time in denial about their capabilities and past mistakes, but the good thing about being in a group is that you always have others keeping you in check. Moo-yeong, Seok-min and So-ra have some much needed reunions and sharing of information when Seon-woo's case takes a regretful turn for the worse,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 7-82017/08/01,
There are not enough closets for all the skeletons Noah Law Firm has been keeping and the latest case involves a living victim whose life is in the hands of Moo-yeong and Aeguk. Our heroes are about to get a proper taste of what fighting for others entails when those with significant power wield it against you. The question is, when will our heroes reach out to one another,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 5-62017/07/31,
Moo-yeong is proven right in his worry over Daehan's dedication to the truth and So-ra is furious, albeit no longer surprised about the prosecution's manipulation. Moo-yeong makes his move and stages a special trial for Park Eung-mo, but its grim ending shakes things up for our leads. This commotion sparks some reunions which not everyone is ready for, but which need to happen,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 3-42017/07/26,
A few disappointments, betrayals and downfalls later, the leads of "Falsify" find themselves down on their luck and right back where things started, as the case of Park Eung-mo brings them closer to the people behind him. Goo Tae-won is enjoying his position of power and our heroes are still naive in many ways, but the foundations under the powerful criminals are beginning to shake,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Falsify" Episodes 1-22017/07/25, "Falsify" opens with several grim reminders that all are not, in fact, equal before the law and that what we know as the truth is only the most well-backed version of it. We are introduced to Han Moo-yeong, a rogue journalist who is trying to infiltrate the underworld in search of someone special. Rewind to five years ago, and we see how things got to this point,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Preview] "Falsify"2017/07/22,
The time has come to once again tap into our unlimited reserves of hate for the corrupt rich as "Falsify" brings more revenge on the Korean drama table. This time around the struggle involves the world of journalism; a welcome twist to the usual business- and law-related takes. Let me guide you through my current thoughts.
Premise
Han Moo-yeong (Namgoong Min) is a reporter who uses his own methods in order to reveal the truth about the death of a loved one. When the law no longer supports justice and the press hides the truth, the only measures that work exist outside of the norm,...More

Which Celebrity Club Would You Want to Join?2017/06/30,
Everyone's got their squad, the circle of friends who support and love each other. Without them, our life would be a bit lonely, honestly. Now, the squad can be formed because of the common interest, or personalities. It could be the age, it could be the school and the classes you take. What about the K-celebrities? How did they form the squad they are in?,...More

[Orion's Drama News] Bubble Bursting2017/06/17,
"Bride of the Water God 2017" really really wants to sell its main pairing and so the teasers keep piling up. We also have some new information about other characters this week as well as other news, especially a lot of casting and potential casting ones. Check them out in the latter half of this piece,...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.12.16 ~ 2016.12.182016/12/19, "Pandora" retains pole position in the aftermath of political unrest...
Park Jeong-woo's thriller "Pandora" retained pole position during its second weekend out by capturing 42.8% of the sales; the film, Park's fourth after "Dance With The Wind", "Big Bang", and "Deranged", added a million admissions to move its total tally now to 3.1 million, or $20.9 million. The film's release is timely given the recent political unrest in the country, which led Maggie Lee, Variety's Chief Asia Film Critic, to write that, "Korean audiences will surely wonder how the lines between parody, fiction, and reality are blurred".,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "The Phone"2016/01/30,
In the unremarkable year of 2014, lawyer Dong-ho (played by Son Hyun-joo) lives a somewhat alcoholic and harassed life with his wife Yeon-soo (played by Eom Ji-won) and daughter Kyeong-rim (played by Roh Jeong-eui). One tragic turn of events and a year-long timeskip later it's 2015. Dong-ho has sobered up a little and is a tad more depressed, but otherwise life is tolerable. Then he gets the opportunity to change what has become the defining moment of his life back in 2014,...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review]2015/10/26, "The Phone" sends "The Martian" packing...
Kim Bong-joo's action thriller, "The Phone", starring Son Hyun-joo and Eom Ji-won, was released last week and came out on top over the weekend as Korea's top pick. Kim's tale of a man struggling to make sense of his wife's death was allocated 794 screens around the country, and from those screenings managed to dislodge "The Martian" at the top of the pile with 613 thousand admissions going its way (31.7%). Ridley Scott's adaptation of Andy Weir's 2011 novel has already grossed $384 million worldwide, and since its release in Korea on the 8th of this month, "The Martian" has attracted nearly 4 million filmgoers ($28.5 million), 534 thousand of which came from this past weekend,...More

The Phone (2015)2015/10/24, Source, "The Phone"
Genres: Action and Thriller
Running Time: 114 min.
Directed by: Kim Bong-joo
Starring: Son Hyun-joo, Eom Ji-won
Synopsis: Dong-ho, a successful lawyer at a prestigious law firm, decides to practice corporate law at a pharmaceutical company. He finds his wife murdered at home after returning from his going-away party. One year after the incident, Dong-ho, who is now in ruins, receives a phone call from his deceased wife. He soon realizes that he is on the phone with his wife on the day of her murder. Dong-ho attempts to change the present,...More

[HanCinema's Korea Joa] "The Silenced" BIFF Review2015/10/17,
On October 2nd, 2015, "The Silenced" aired as part of the 2015 Busan International Film Festival in Busan's Haeundae Megabox Theaters. As part of KOFICE's Korea Joa 2015 project, HanCinema attended the screening and would like to thank KOFICE for the opportunity.
"The Silenced" is a film whose plot can be dissected into two contrasting parts: the first two-thirds that is alluring and full of promise, and the last third that quickly declines into disappointing predictability. The two parts are decorated with gifted actors, insightful filming, and very marked themes of friendship, sacrifice, and evil. Set in Japanese-occupied Korea, "The Silenced" focuses on a girls' boarding house and sanitorium where strange things happen to its sickly students,...More

[HanCinema's Korea Joa] Introducing Lisa Espinosa2015/09/24,
Annyeong haseyo, everyone! I am Raine aka Lisa Espinosa, HanCinema's representative in the first year of the Korea Joa (KJ) program hosted by KOFICE. As your fellow fan of Korean film, drama, culture, and music it is my distinct pleasure to travel, write, film, and photograph my experiences for you. Please be sure to leave comments for the HanCinema team below about what you would like to see in my travels that will take place September 27 to October 9th,...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2015.06.26 ~ 2015.06.282015/06/29,
A rush of fresh blood dislodges "Jurassic World"...
A string of new flicks, both foreign and domestic, flooded Korea cinemas last week, and in the aftermath of the weekend a new championed emerged. For the past few weeks the gigantically successful "Jurassic World" (which has, to date, banked over $1.2B worldwide) has dominated Korean screens with its ferocious abominations, but this past weekend saw a new favourite rise to the top, a local flick that's based on a true story of war and young courage,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "The Silenced"2015/06/27,
The year is 1938, and Joo-ran (played by Park Bo-young) is a young woman who's sent off to boarding school, mostly to avoid being too much of an inconvenience to a restructured family that's decided to move to Japan. For the most part Joo-ran's adjustments to the new environment are nothing out of the ordinary. There's a bullying clique, a new friend by the name of Yeon-deok (played by Park So-dam), a curricular obsession with long jumping, and freaky hallucinations involving missing students covered in nightmarish gook. At least, Joo-ran is hoping these are just hallucinations,...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2015.06.19 ~ 2015.06.212015/06/22,
"Jurassic World" still rules, but under pressure from two new local entries... Two films (one foreign, one local) dominated at the top of the pile over the weekend. "Jurassic World" and "The Classified File" were the nation's films of choice, and together constituted over 80% of the sales with just over 2 million admissions between them. Last weekend, "Jurassic World" came and conquered, and week two for this record-breaking thrill ride saw it retain the top stop with over a million in attendance (45%). Colin Trevorrow's "Jurassic World" has already broken the record for the all-time opening weekend in North America, and in South Korea that support has continued as the film, the fourth installment in the "Jurassic Park" series, now moves onto $27M (3.4M admissions),...More

The Silenced (2015)2015/06/19, Source, "The Silenced"
Genres: Drama and Mystery
Running Time: 99 min.
Directed by: Lee Hae-yeong
Starring: Park Bo-young, Eom Ji-won
Synopsis: Ju-ran with chronic health issues moves to a sanitorium boarding school. In the new environment, she regains health thanks to the principal's special treatment program. But soon, her classmates begin to disappear one by one and she notices abnormal changes to her body. She suspects the school is responsible for what's happening and begins to uncover the truth,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Private Eye"2014/11/08,
The mystery genre is so easy to love in film. Curiosity is a powerful thing and as long as the introduction to an unsolved puzzle grabs one's attention, they will likely stick with it, if only for the answer that lies at the end. Good mysteries keep the truth well hidden, but show just enough for the viewer to have a chance and for them to make the connection later on. Sadly, as entertaining as "Private Eye" is, it is not a very good mystery,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Sign"2014/09/13,
While OCN might be the current king of the crime in Korean drama, crime as a topic, premise and even genre for shows is nothing new for the industry. Series with crime as their genre or an integral part of them might not appear often, but attempts have been made with various results. "Sign" is a big attempt at pure crime and achieves some new things, but its problems and lack of a solid main plot ultimately fail it,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Tale of Cinema"2014/06/20,
Sang-won (played by Lee Ki-woo) is a young college student who finds himself making an unexpected reconnection. Well, not really. Sang-won is a hopeless romantic, and unsurprisingly assumes that any kind of mild emotional sentiment at all must be the symptom of some greater, universal truth. Yes, that's right- this is once again an archetypal lead character from a Hong Sang-soo film,...More

Eom Ji-won to Wed Architect in Low-Key Ceremony2014/05/06, Source,
Actress Eom Ji-won will tie the knot with architect Oh Young-wook on May 27. Oh graduated from the architectural engineering department of Yonsei University and is now running an architectural firm. He is also a well-known travel writer who has published several books,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 40 Final2014/03/30,
And so, it all comes down to a final negotiation. Eun-soo with Joon-goo's family, over the fate of the baby. Don't expect any emotional fireworks here- the same as all along throughout this drama, Eun-soo refuses to indicate any sign of weakness. She represses all her emotions, and it's only in one final flourish that she lets the pain out. And after that, it's all over. The misery of the past forty episodes has finally come to an end as Eun-soo finds her answer.
I liked the answer actually. It's a bit of a weaselly way of dealing with the mystery of the title,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 392014/03/29,
It bears repeating- for a drama that received an eight episode extension, "She Gets Married Thrice" is hurrying to the ending awfully fast. There have been some massive character shifts over the course of the several month timeskip. It's nice that Chae Rin can soak with her sister-in-law in a preposterously opulent bathtub but it would be nice if we'd actually seen them getting closer and bonding instead of just skipping over all that stuff. This drama's put so much effort into crushing hope that it's rather rude to just skip over a bunch of happy bonding to get to sad stuff again,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 382014/03/23,
In one sense the drama's sudden shift to Chae Rin's dark subplot is a bit of a cheat. It's not like we've been clear up until this point that there was an actual reason for her bad behavior. By and large it's been much easier to chalk up her poor attitude to Chae Rin's own sense of entitled selfishness. The woman hasn't done much to endear herself to the viewer. A significant portion of this drama has just been Chae Rin abusing Seul-gi, however well-intentioned that may have been at points.
But just because that's how Chae Rin has seemed on camera doesn't make her a bad person,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 372014/03/22,
We get to see some of the ways the story of this drama has done long-term damage to Seul-gi's impressionable mind. In the first place, her philosophy on life has gotten horribly cynical for a child. The entire sequence where she gives a full emotional reaction to the news that Eun-soo is pregnant is pretty cringe-worthy. Unfortunately from Seul-gi's point of view this is a perfectly valid response. Even more worrisome, Seul-gi's actually coming from a pretty good position of authority when making this announcement,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 362014/03/16,
Eun-soo is in a bit of an odd spot here. Most of the runtime to "She Gets Married Thrice" has been devoted to the woman's suffering, yet she's never really come off as a martyr. A large part of this has been because the breakdown in her relationships has at least partially been her fault. While Eun-soo's failures have not been as dramatic or alarming as Tae-won's or Joon-goo's, there's still the feeling that she's reaping what she's sown.
So it's all too appropriate that here, when Eun-soo is forced into a face-to-face confrontation with Chae Rin, that the woman simply refuses to engage,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 352014/03/15,
The focus this time is almost entirely on Chae Rin, and her continued self-degredation as a woman who insists on staying in a marriage that has pretty obviously failed. I tend to be patient with "She Gets Married Thrice" most of the time, recognizing that these kinds of breakdowns take time to finalize, but watching Chae Rin futilely struggle against her inevitable fate has just gotten really tiresome. We've seen all this before, and there's really no good reason for the drama to continue dragging the point,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 342014/03/09,
Here we see "She Gets Married Thrice" take a vacation from itself. I really can't think of a better way to describe it. For the first time in a really, really long time, Seul-gi spends the entire episode smiling. There's no sense of fear or panic. She's just cute and happy being able to spend time with people who clearly appreciate having her around. Poor Seul-gi really needed this so bad, and it's wonderful that she's able to enjoy herself around people who aren't so pretentious and obsessed with manipulating each other.
Like Gwang-mo. I love the way this drama has rehabilitated his character from the impulsive, generally obnoxious guy he was at the beginning to man who here is really just heavily focused on the needs of other people,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 332014/03/08,
It's another typical day in the "She Gets Married Thrice" universe. More stony silent dinners contrasted with bright and cheerful ones. At least for the first few minutes. Then Eun-soo is tossed into crisis mode and, with more energy than I can ever remember her seeing to date, rushes to her daughter and demands an explanation for everything that's been going on in her ex-husband's household since the matter of child custody was resolved.
I like Tae-won's resigned reaction to the whole situation. He reacts to Eun-soo the same way that he used to react to his family. Just a resigned sort of acceptance of whatever she's saying,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 322014/03/02,
And it looks like the drama is right back to moving at a crawl. On one end it's nice that these marriages are slowly disintegrating, as opposed to just remaining stagnant. And given the personalities of the characters involved, it's not like any of them would just give up altogether anyway. But still. There's only so much slow storyline movement a viewer can take. The pacing is consistent, genuine, and terribly frustrating.
There's a bit more to chew on outside of the married couples,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 312014/03/01,
The dam breaks. We appear to have finally gotten to the point where the marriages which make up the dramatic thrust of "She Gets Married Thrice" have fully disintegrated. There's no degree of apology that can make up for the mistakes Joon-goo and Chae Rin have committed at this point. They just continuously fail to learn from their errors, however many second chances they get. So with that, enough is enough.
Part of what makes the situation so frustrating to watch is that at any point in the last several episodes, indeed, even in this one, Joon-goo and Chae Rin could have made amends and reintegrated into the family unit,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 302014/02/23,
It would seem that Eun-soo has found yet another largely ineffective way of dealing with her problems- making no effort to emote at all. I'd find this latest development depressing except that it's just what we have to expect from these characters at this point. The ending in particular is a strong statement on the direction Eun-soo seems to keep moving in life. The poor woman's just running around in circles, accomplishing nothing, incapable of really opening up to anyone aside from family,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 292014/02/22,
Poor Tae-won. He goes to work for one day, just one day, and comes back to find the entire household in crisis. It's a pretty ridiculous crisis too- the terrible secret of what Seul-gi's been doing behind locked doors. Although in all fairness Seul-gi's door really shouldn't be locked in the first place. What if there was a fire? How would anybody be able to get her out if she's conked out asleep behind a locked door?
That's the question a sensible responsible parent would be asking,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 282014/02/16,
We get a much needed dose of levity here as the drama takes a moment to focus on Eun-soo's problems. In a less depressing drama there might actually be serious conflict about this development. The thing is, however we cut it, Gwang-mo's mom is a lot more reasonable than any other in-law on this drama. Yeah she's mean and hostile but at least the woman has the courtesy to clearly telegraph her intentions ahead of time.
The positive movement this episode overall is actually pretty good relatively speaking,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 272014/02/15,
And so the cycle begins anew. Yes, something happened this time. But Joon-goo, as usual chooses to just pretend like it never happened and who knows when we're finally going to hit the crisis point on his latest bad decision. Home life with Eun-soo is even more depressing than usual here- she doesn't know what's going to happen, but it's so clearly telegraphed that the relationship with Joon-goo isn't working out that a lack of a communication is the only thing keeping this marriage alive.
I have to admit I almost, almost, managed to feel sorry for Da-mi this time,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 262014/02/09,
Well, we find out this time that apparently Chae Rin's in-laws are aware of the fact that she's incapable of connecting with her stepdaughter. It's just that they're choosing not to do anything about it. I'd be angry but this is so in keeping with the self-centered self-absorbed world of Tae-won and his relatives that it barely even registers as a surprise. I continue to just feel sorry for Chae Rin- it's unclear what possible positive direction this could go for her.
There's an interesting flashback this time that goes over the moment when Eun-soo and Tae-won first started discussing the prospect of marriage- and the parallels with Chae Rin's situation are too eerie,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 252014/02/02,
The storyline between Hyeon-soo and Gwang-mo is now in full focus, and the comparison between this couple and the other two is a fascinating one. Hyeon-soo and Gwang-mo just spend half their time screaming at each other over the question of whether or not to get married. At one point it's even acknowledged that they sound, you know, kind of crazy, especially when it happens in public spaces.
But look at Eun-soo and Joon-goo. Look at Tae-won and Chae Rin. They don't yell,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 242014/02/01,
In this episode we get confirmation that Gwang-mo is, in fact, much more childish than he is genuinely romantic. Granted, the fact that he ditched his fiance at the altar was probably a pretty good clue of that. But that was an eternity ago and lately he's seemed almost like a passable romantic lead for Hyeon-soo. Well it's much more difficult to keep that impression seriously when we see the man at home, with his mom, arguing, while we can clearly see superhero masks hanging in the background of his room.
I like how none of the men in this drama are perfect- they all have pretty glaring flaws that they might or might not be able to fix, regardless of how handsome they are. Take Joon-goo,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 232014/01/26,
Joon-goo spends most of this episode trying to be considerate of Eun-soo in really unhelpful ways. He still doesn't grasp the fact that Eun-soo doesn't trust him. More problematically, he's not really giving her any reason to trust him. Joon-goo is very aggressive in the way he shows affection- he does almost no long term thinking of the way Eun-soo actually feels. Their relationship remains horribly stalled- this pregnancy looking more worrisome all the time.
Chae Rin isn't doing much better. She's continuously isolated in her new home, not really having made much of a connection with anyone. The progress she makes toward decent familial relationships is slow and mixed,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 222014/01/25,
I have to give this episode credit for one thing- I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a fictional pregnancy portrayed with such...ambivalency. Oh sure, there's countless stories where a woman gets pregnant unexpectedly, but these almost always turn into relatively cheerful upbeat narratives with inevitable happy endings. The prospect of abortion is rarely ever even mentioned, let alone seriously discussed.
Well, "She Gets Married Thrice" isn't exactly that much more amibitious when it comes to that last particular issue,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 212014/01/19,
This episode establishes beyond all reasonable doubt that the problems in the Eun-Soo / Joon-Goo relationship are still there, and unlikely to leave anytime soon. Even though he's been sick, and even though he's been victimized by Da-Mi, Eun-Soo simply doesn't trust Joon-Goo yet. There's good reason for this- honestly, I'd probably recoil at the sense of his touch, too. He's been lying for a long time and so far the efforts Joon-Goo has been making toward redemption haven't been that convincing.
Take his entire scene with Da-Mi. Yes, in a technical sense he does make the right decision and act in the correct way,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 202014/01/18,
The drama appears to have realized where its current strong storyline lies, and has shifted gears appropriately. This episode largely deals with Tae-won's fatherly relationship with Seul-gi, and it involves lots of parenting. The cliffhanger from last time is resolved in a fairly humdrum way- unsurprising, really, given that there's only so many places Seul-gi can run away to. But Tae-won correctly realizes that the crisis isn't resolved just because Seul-gi's back home.
As a parent there's a lot to admire in Tae-won, and I love Song Chang-eui's performance,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 192014/01/12,
I get now why this whole storyline with Da-mi feels so awkward. It's because, inadvertently and rather unjustifiably, Da-mi's being unreasonable has apparently solved all the emotional problems in the Hyeon-soo / Joon-goo relationship. Remember how Hyeon-soo was so frustrated she left Joon-goo's home, and had to do a lot of soul-searching before she could be persuaded into coming back? Remember the marital rape? "She Gets Married Thrice" seems to have decided these were lightweight events that mean little in light of the current Da-mi crisis.
The charitable explanation is that these issues do still exist, these characters just aren't going to deal with them seriously until after the issues with Da-mi are resolved,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 182014/01/12,
This episode falls into a weird kind of limbo where even though lots of important stuff is happening...it somehow feels like nothing is happening at all. Almost the entire conflict here is about Da-mi and her unwillingness to sever with Joon-goo. And for one hour she just repeatedly refuses to do that, to the increasing agitation of every character around her. Such would seem to be the wages of carrying on with a married man.
Unfortunately, we just don't know all that much about Da-mi. Yes, she's had a few times to explain her position, but just because I know where the woman's coming from doesn't mean that I particularly care,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 172014/01/05,
This drama is, surprisingly enough, still a pretty sad one. It's not like anything particularly depressing has been happening lately. Some of it is just unambiguously good comedy. We get to look at 3 date nights, all completely different in tone, and the comparison is quite humorous. The entire sequence comes off as an instructional guide as to why the kind of thing you choose to watch on a date is really important in terms of the feelings it inspires.
One of those feelings, though, is regret. And I think this is where the emphasis of the previous episodes is seeping in,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 162014/01/04,
The focus here is on dinnertime, as all four of the households we've seen prepare, then eat, and then clean up after having had their supper. In other words, it's an episode for baselines and comparisons. The most immediate obvious one is that the only household to strictly follow rules of etiquette and make a point of eating together no matter what...is Hyeon-soo's. This is the only home with no children or parents. Although it does have a love interest.
The sense of intimacy and cheer, and particularly its absence anywhere else, is striking,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 152013/12/28,
It looks like Eun-soo has a stronger sense of pride and self-respect than her constant crying lets on. Rather than let herself be bullied into a bad situation again, she forcefully moves against Joon-goo and manages to reverse the power dynamic. I like the way the storyline is moving into deliberate action and reaction territory here. There's been plenty of mopiness to establish how the characters feel, so it's refreshing to see these emotions finally take center stage,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 142013/12/22,
The drama continues with its tale of two families and the moral distinctions are getting increasingly troublesome and ambiguous. The happy points are, by far, the moments Tae-won spends with his daughter. He's a kind loving father- which only makes it all the more problematic to consider that he's also a newlywed with relatively little interest in his wife. While their relationship is basically mended for now, the long term prospects yet remain murky.
As to our actual main character Eun-soo...this episode for the most part seems determined to explain why the weepy blend of conservatism she's demonstrated up until this point might actually have been the best option,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 132013/12/21,
For awhile the only thing I could really get interested in was the furniture. I know that's a bit of a weird thing to praise but honestly the furniture in this drama is pretty great. These look like homes people could actually live in and there's all sorts of fun details that reflect the attitudes of the presumed decorators. For the mean wealthy family there's excessive opulence, for the nice wealthy family there's plain functionality, and for Hyeon-soo there are pictures of her dogs everywhere. These sets themselves tell quite a story if you pay attention,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 122013/12/15,
I keep forgetting that Eun-soo is married. It's pretty easy to do that, given that Joon-goo has been such a non-entity when it comes to the emotional situation of his wife. We've spent several episodes now that have basically just resolved around Eun-soo crying about the various plot stuff involving her daughter and ex-husband, but it's only this episode that Joon-goo offers her any meaningful comfort in these times of crisis. I'm not even totally sure he's ever had a scene in the same room as Seul-gi yet.
This is problematic, naturally, but only in past context,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 112013/12/14,
It's rather telling that, in the midst of an obvious crisis when any emotionally well-adjusted family would be in a panic, the people in Lady Choi's seem to have trouble summoning up any kind of emotion at all when their matriarch appears to suffer a severe collapse. The apathy is almost comical. The fact that the first we see of this woman is not in a hospital, but her own bedroom only adds to how problematic the situation is.
This could be easily labelled all of this as part of a deliberate performance designed to indicate the general unhealthiness of this family's psychological well-being,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 102013/12/08,
Well, lots of stuff happened this episode. As to what any of this managed to accomplish, well...I'm not really sure. The plotting of the narrative moves at a really glacial place. Pretty much every significant storyline event in the drama is referenced here, including the last episode's cliffhanger, but once all these facts are clearly established, we just get into more of the grind of daily life. Nothing much is really done with these storyline developments except character reactions we probably could have guessed.
None of this is necessarily bad, exactly,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 92013/12/07,
The storyline this time around reads like an ineffective beer advertisement. Characters constantly search out and consume liquor here, all while while entering into the recesses of memory to figure out where it all went wrong. It's a pretty gloomy pit of distraughtness and despair, from which only the sweet taste of alcohol offers the slightest reprieve. Oh sure, there were good times- punctuated by those same awful moments which we now understand in retrospect to have ruined everything.
So, in case you couldn't guess, yeah, this episode is pretty depressing,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 82013/12/01,
The main conflict this episode is the emotional handwringing that ensues as possession of Seul-gi passes from her mother's family to her father's family. Strangely, even though most of the drama up until this point has done a fairly good job of explaining why the wealthy in-laws are bad people who are unlikely to be a good influence on the little girl, I found the emotion here heavy-handed. It's not like Seul-gi's being sent off to a boarding school in Switzerland. They'll still be able to see her.
A single tearful goodbye would have been more appropriate, and would have given the drama some badly needed time to focus on other more interesting storylines,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 72013/11/30,
It turns out that in addition to all her other flaws the matriarch of the wealthy family is also an astonishingly bad mother. I don't mean that in terms of general abusiveness (that's already been well established) but how this woman manages to infatilize even the people she's supposed to like. It is, as is often the case with this drama, depressing to watch because it's hard to imagine this scenario could go anywhere good.
Fortunately, we're able to spend some time with the parents of our lead characters, and it's quite clear that they have much more sensible heads on their shoulders,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 62013/11/24,
This episode clearly resolves the mystery burning about why, exactly, the marriage between Eun-soo and Tae-won broke up in the first place. Part of the reason why the flashbacks of this drama are so confusing is because they always seem to be about as intimate with each other regardless of whether or not they're actually married. Even in the present day Tae-won still calls her "yeobo", which is weird even when everyone is being a good sport about it.
The reason for this, unsurprisingly, is Tae-won's relatives. That much has already been implied, of course- they remain, as always, insufferable in nearly every scene they're in,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 52013/11/23,
It occurs to me that if you take "The Heirs" and strip it of all the genre trappings necessitated by plots involving romances and corporate takeovers, you basically end up with "She Gets Married Thrice". The way this drama shows off the sheer wealth of some of its characters is impossible to ignore. Even in their most casual moments the wealthy characters are in this environment of sheer opulence that feels almost entirely disconnected from reality.
The main emotional event this episode is Eun-soo asking for permission to see her daughter, and this turning into some sort of bizarre legal negotiation,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 42013/11/17,
Up until now I haven't really been paying much attention to the house of the rich in-laws, mostly because it's been difficult relating anything the rich in-laws do with the rest of the story. This episode gives us an interesting few scenes in this house, that goes a long way to explaining why this drama features so many dramatic communication breakdowns. Class plays a subtle but unmistakable role here in damaging efforts at conversation.
Take a look at the chairs in those house, the ones the rich in-laws are always sitting in,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 32013/11/16,
The main conflict this time is that Seul-gi just has a sudden freakout about her indefinite, undefined living situation. As far as I can tell nothing actually provokes this- which is exactly what kids can do. There's not necessarily a reason for them to suddenly turn grumpy. It's just a thing that happens when, for whatever reason, they started thinking long-term and get apprehensive.
What makes this more interesting in terms of the drama's broader plot is the way characters react to this. Seul-gi's scared because she doesn't know what's going on- in fact, none of the characters have any idea what's going on,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 22013/11/10,
I am genuinely extremely unsure how much of this drama is supposed to take place in the present day versus flashbacks. It's difficult to connect how events and character reactions are supposed to relate from one scene to the next. All I'm positive about is that the scenes in the apartment take place in the present, and feature remarkably little forward progress in the storyline. Characters are generally angry- justifiably maybe, but not in an especially interesting way,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "She Gets Married Thrice" Episode 12013/11/09,
There's a cynical bite to "She Gets Married Thrice" that's rather surprising. Normally characters start out the story at least somewhat happy or satisfied and are only forced into chaos by the encroaching conflict. But the ones in this drama are just really crabby. Much ado is made over the big wedding scene that shows up in the middle of the episode- but lead character Hyeon-soo (played by Eom Ji-won) won't acknowledge any joy or happiness in these moments, choosing instead to behave rather indifferently.
Unfolding events seem to bear out Hyeon-soo's cynicism rather well,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Hope"2013/10/18,
In many ways I've been dreading this movie. Sure, the poster makes it look like a friendly, happy drama about a family overcoming difficulties in life, but then I found out about the rather gruesome real-life case upon which the story is based. There's a controversial cruelty in making a film like this when the actual family, in all likelihood, just wants to move on and forget the whole incident.
Surprisingly, there's a tastefulness in "Hope" that actually seems to take this into account. Make no mistake- this is a tremendously sad, heart-pounding film that deliberately tugs at the heartstrings to provoke tears from the viewer,...More

[HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...2013/09/28, K-Films Coming Soon:
★★★★ "Tough as Iron": Kang-cheol, a once great street fighter, gets pulled into Busan's organised crime while trying to support his deteriorating mother. (10/02)
★★★★ "Hope": A father struggles to support his family in the aftermath of his daughter's assault. (10/02)
★★ "Vacation": Three glamorous and privileged young women go on a seductive vacation with three men they've targeted. (10/01),...More

Eom Ji-won Dating Architect2013/07/16, Source, Eom Ji-won (left) and Oh Young-wook
Actress Eom Ji-won is in a romantic relationship with architect Oh Young-wook. "The two met through a mutual friend and recently started dating", her agency Chaeum Entertainment said on Monday. "They don't have any specific plans" to get married,...More

[HanCinema's Weekend Box Office Review] 2013.01.18 ~ 2013.01.202013/01/21, HanCinema's Korean Box Office Review (2013.01.18 ~ 2013.01.20)
The Korean comedy "Man on the Edge" by Jo Jun-kyoo managed to retain its number one status for the second weekend running. The film logged nearly 900,000 admissions this past weekend and was the clear favourite among moviegoers. "Man on the Edge" stars Park Shin-yang as a gangster who also lives a double life as a shaman; Kim Jung-tae, Eom Ji-won and Jeong Hey-yeong accompany him on screen as this unique blend of comedy continues to thrills fans. The film now moves onto more than 2.5 million admissions since its release on the ninth,...More

Hong Sang-soo Film Retrospective @Museum of the Moving Image March 17, 18, and 23, 20122012/03/05, Source,
The Korea Society film fans celebrate Asia Week with a screening of works by celebrated director Hong Sang-soo ("The Day He Arrives", "Ha Ha Ha"). Since he debuted with 'The Day a Pig into the Well' in 1996, all of his films were invited by prestigious film festivals like Cannes, Berlin, and New York Film Festivals, and began to receive worldwide attention. We present highly acclaimed 5 films and they will be shown at the newly renovated Museum of the Moving Image, home to New York City's finest, state-of-the-art screen. This retrospective is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature,...More

Busan film festival opens to star-studded fanfare, Always2011/10/07, Source, By KOFIC Staff
Despite some concern over construction delays at the Busan Cinema Center, the 16th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has opened at the new dedicated venue on schedule and with a galaxy of local and international stars on the red carpet. The festival opened Oct. 6 with the world premiere of Song Il-gon's ill-fated love story Always, starring So Ji-sub and Han Hyo-joo.
The film had sold out in seven seconds and the director and his stars were greeted with huge cheers as they stepped onto the Busan Cinema Center's red carpet with festival director LEE Yong Kwan. Song declared, "This is a great honor in my life",...More

Actress duo hosts open new chapter for BIFF2011/10/07, Source,
BUSAN ― The 16th Busan International Film Festival made sure Thursday's opening gala showed that Asia's largest cinema event was beginning a new chapter.
Not only does the festival assume a new name, with the outdated Romanization "Pusan" changed to "Busan" ― but this year's event will be the first to be headed by Lee Yong-kwan after founding director Kim Dong-ho stepped down. Both men took part in the event, alongside Busan Mayor and festival chairman Hur Nam-sik,...More

[Photo N] Actress' love for black, BIFF2011/10/06, Source,
The 16th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) opening ceremony took place at a movie hall in Haeundae, Busan on the 6th of October.
Busan prepared its own 'movie hall' and changed its English name for the area from 'Pusan' to 'Busan' making it the Busan International Festival and the project market PPP to Asian Project Market.,...More

Weekly Star Scene2011/06/30, Source, Welcome to "Weekly Star Scene", a round up of the past week's top 5 news from the entertainment scene!

: We have our oh so unique Dami in the studio! Hello Dami!

[Reporter : ] : Hi 건영! Hi Sean!

: What do you have for us today[Reporter : ] : Well once again, I have news from ou,...More

Eom Ji-won Takes Center Stage for BBC's 'Third Eye' Documentary2011/06/24, Source,
Actress Eom Ji-won is set to appear in an upcoming episode of BBC World's "The Third Eye", a documentary series that spotlights up-and-coming countries. It has already covered Britain, Spain, Kenya and Vietnam, with Korea appearing in an episode that started airing on June 11 around the world. It is scheduled to be shown in about 200 countries,...More

Eom Ji-won Represents Korea On BBC2011/06/23, Source,
Actress Eom Ji-won will be a part of a BBC documentary, representing Korean entertainment.
The documentary is for a TV series called "The Third Eye", where various up-and-rising countries take the spotlight. Countries that have been covered in the past include Britain, Spain, Kenya, and Vietnam,...More

[REVIEW] SBS TV series "Sign" - 1st Episode 2011/01/06, Source,
SBS TV series "Sign" [SBS]
SBS TV series - Wednesdays & Thursdays 9:55 p.m.
The first episode of "Sign" kicked off by showing the most intensive moment of the story. Yoon Ji-hoon (played by Park Shin-yang) takes away a body that was to be autopsied by another doctor, leaving Lee Myung-han (Jun Kwang-ryul) enraged and searching the National Forensic Service to look for him. Da-kyung (Kim Ah-joong), who had been arguing with Yoon, finds herself joining him in the autopsy room,...More

The 18th Korean Culture Entertainment Awards2010/12/16, Source, The 18th Korean Culture Entertainment Awards took place at the International Convention Hall in Seoul's 63 Building on December 15th. The awards show first started in 1992, aiming to improve the quality of Korean culture and art and to further advance Korea's cultural content.
The following is a list of this year's winners!,...More

Park says career success does not quench one's thirst for love2010/02/08, Source,
"Still, Marry Me" actors (from left to right): Park Jin-hee and Kim Bum [MBC]
"You shouldn't be like that with someone who is around your mom's age", Ban-suk (played by Choi Chul-ho) says to Min-jae (Kim Bum) upon seeing a seemingly intimate picture of him and Shin-young (played by Park Jin-hee) together. That comment Ban-suk made during preview showing of a scene shown for the press on the set of "The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry" on February 2 may probably speak for what all viewers of the show probably feel. And like so, there are a couple of scenes in the drama that the public can relate to but some which also brings several questions to mind. Why is the story about a couple composed of woman who is older than the man and why does it focus on the topic of marriage? These questions were asked during a press conference attended by director Kim Min-sik, actress Park Jin-hee and actor Kim Bum.
Q: How does it feel to play a couple where the woman is older? Kim Bum (Kim): I like the role but I think Park Jin-hee is tired. Yesterday's shoot wrapped up just this morning. Park Jin-hee (Park): Other than the fact that it is physically draining, I am very happy to be shooting the drama.,...More

[ChanMi's take] Soo Ae and Eom Ji-won, same dress 2010/02/01, Source,
Calm and elegant image are carried by a few stars. These shy stars are always being a hot issue when they wear sexy dresses because they are showing off a different side of their look.
Soo Ae and Eom Ji-won are wearing such dresses! The sexy tube minidress with beads are worn by Soo Ae at the 17th Korean Culture Star Awards in November and Eom at the MARIE CLAIRE's February p,...More

[PREVIEW] MBC TV series "The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry"2010/01/22, Source,
Actress Park Jin-hee in "The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry" [MBC]
"What is precious leaves you, what I'm waiting for doesn't come and what I didn't hope for finds me", said Lee Shin-young (played by Myung Se-bin), the main character in the original TV series "Woman Who Wants To Marry", which aired six years ago. Now in 2010, the same circumstances are facing Lee Shin-young, who at 34 has aged two more years in the story. Her boyfriend has left her because he could not handle a woman who still had big career ambitions, the new love that she is waiting for does not come and her career is not working out the way she had planned.,...More

[PREVIEW] MBC TV series "Woman Who Still Wants to Marry"2010/01/15, Source,
Actresses Eom Ji-won, Park Jin-hee and Wang Bit-na [MBC]
Sometimes, a title will speak for itself. MBC TV series "The Woman Who Wants To Marry", received strong support from women in 2004 by comically yet realistically portraying the life of 32-year-old TV reporter Lee Shin-young (played by Myung Se-bin) who is worried about work, dating and marriage. A 34-year-old and still single Lee Shin-young, played by Park Jin-hee this time, appeared at a press conference for "The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry" (tentative title) held at the Sherton Grand Walkerhill hotel on Thursday.
Shin-young receives a wedding invitation from co-pilot Sang-woo (played by Lee Pil-mo) whom she almost got married to until he had to leave for Washington to undergo training. She also spots her was-seemingly new perfect boyfriend with another girl on the scene of a fire at a motel after having received the most glamorous proposal to be his girlfriend. And her relationship with blind date Na Ban-suk (played by Choi Chul-ho) ends up fizzling out after a few misunderstandings. After going through a series of several more such unfortunate incidents, Shin-young declares she will never marry. But she unexpectedly falls into love with Ha Min-jae (played by Kim Bum) whom she runs into at a college she went to give a lecture at.,...More

The red carpet is ready to be unrolled for the opening tonight of the 14th Pusan (Busan) International Film Festival (PIFF).

Haeundae Beach in the southern port city will sizzle with the longest ever lineup of 355 films from 70 countries and a VIP guest list fea,...More

[ChanMi's movie news] "Like You Know It All"2009/06/04, Source, Last May 14th, this film, "Like You Know It All" has been released and has hit 30,424 viewers around the nation.
It has only hit 25 movie theaters around nation but receiving this many viewers is a miracle!
This artistic film is an entertaining film with wit and humor that has been popular verbally among fans. Many are planning to see this film even a month after its quiet release! There is a never ending laughter for the audience in the theater for this film.,...More

[ChanMi's movie news] Hwang Jung-min and Ryoo Deok-hwan in "Shadow Murder"2009/02/23, Source,
Movie, "Shadow Murder" will be released soon!
The main poster and teaser trailer have been publicized!
This is revolved around a mysterious mystery case. The modernized suit and hat is worn by Hwang Jung-min who brings a tough image to the audience.
Who is the man who is pulling a wheelbarrow? That is part of the mystery!
Ryoo is the inspector/detective who will plunge into the case! Ryoo is the main character of the film based on the 5 secret books that shook Choseon because of the room with blood of the victim, and the disappearance of the body!,...More

[ChanMi's movie news] Yoo Joon-sang and Eom Ji-won in "Scent of Heaven"2008/12/30, Source, Yoo Joon-sang and Eom Ji-won are casted for the new film, "Scent of Heaven". This is a human dramatic film where the tragic life brings a miraculous victory.
Yoo's character is a neurologist Sang-hyeon who has a pharmiacist wife. He has been living a successful life until he is sued because of a misunderstanding which causes him in rist of losing his medical license.
Eom Ji-won is Soo-won, the wife of a taxi driver who works as a janitor at the hospital and finds evidence of her daughter's rapist.
"Scent of Heaven" is about people who would have just,...More

[ChanMi's take] Actresses at film festival this 7th2008/09/07, Source, On the 7th, the 17th Choonsa Film Award Festival Ceremony opened inviting many stars to this one place.
However, the numbers of stars have been lower than last years'. Of course, the stars did not attend because of personal reasons.
There has been many criticism in about this event. Complaints were,...More

Eom Ji-won Rediscovered2006/10/27, Source, "After I finish my vacation, I think my heart may be filled with trees". Screenplay gems seem to stick in the memory forever, and with the way actress,...More

PUSAN _ The 11th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) will finish tonight its nine-day festival. Thousands have enjoyed a range of films and avidly greeted the stars when they saw them walking on the red carpet or even bumped into them on the streets.

[ChanMi's star news] Thee beauties!2006/10/12, Source, The 11th Pusan International Film Festival will be held this 12th.
Three Korean beauties will be MCs for this event: Kim Ji-soo, Moon Geun-young, and Eom Ji-won.
The 140 nation's 245 films will be reviewed at this festival. That means a lot of foreigners who will see our stars!
Kim, Eom, and Moon are great representative actresses for this event!,...More

Fireworks light up the night sky during the opening ceremony of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) at the Yachting Center in Haeundae, southeastern port city of Pusan, Thursday. More than 6,000 festivalgoers and celebrities packed the venue. The nine,...More

11th PIFF Announces Line-Up2006/09/21, Source, Last week in Seoul at an unusually crowded press conference, Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) director Kim Dong-ho and his team, presented an impressive line-up of premieres, programs, and celebrity events, all to take place during its,...More

PIFF to continue growing with film market2006/09/14, Source, An Asian Film Market, a four-day full-scale market covering financing, production, post-production and sales of Asian films, will be launched at this year's Pusan International Film Festival.

The festival's organizing committee hosted a press conference at the Convention and Exhibition Center of,...More

What nude scenes mean for actresses2006/03/27, Source, Just two decades ago, it was rare for movie fans to see actresses do nude scenes because of strict censorship and most stars were hesitant about undressing for the camera.

But as the domestic moviemaking trend took an innovative turn towards liberal expression, nude scenes no longer made much new,...More

"The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it".

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